Oak Park opens beside the M&K Railroad in Masontown

James J. Brown dates Oak Park’s opening near Masontown to June 9, 1909, although the exact opening date remains under review. Brown describes its entrance as facing the railroad tracks and says the amusement park generated excursion traffic for the M&K, including trains arriving from as far away as Pittsburgh. A July 22, 1909 newspaper notice advertised a Knights of Pythias basket picnic at Oak Park for August 26. The notice described cooperation with M&K Railroad officials, connections with B&O trains, and a special $1 round-trip fare from M&K Junction.

Masontown

Research status

This page preserves a research lead.

The event is publicly visible so it can be investigated and improved, but its date, wording, or supporting evidence has not completed source review.

How verification works

Sources and further reading

Where this entry comes from

James J. Brown, “The Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad,” Proceedings and Papers of the Monongalia Historical Society, no. 8 (December 2010), p. 4; “Attention Knights,” The Preston County Journal (Kingwood, West Virginia), July 22, 1909, p. 1; Peggy Ross, “Echoes of Things Past: Preston County’s Oak Park,” Goldenseal 20, no. 2 (Summer 1994), pp. 46–52

Read the July 22, 1909 newspaper notice e-WV, “Oak Park” — alternative opening date

Research notes

What the evidence establishes

Opening date unresolved: the Brown-based research lead gives June 9, 1909; e-WV gives June 19, 1909. The July 22 newspaper notice does not establish the opening day, so the entry remains a research lead.

The “Attention Knights” notice announces a planned August 26, 1909 picnic celebrating Damon Lodge No. 5’s 40th anniversary. It documents advertised arrangements, not confirmation that the outing occurred. It should not be equated without further evidence with e-WV’s account of crowds on August 25.

Peggy Ross’s 1994 Goldenseal article preserves retrospective interviews with people who knew Oak Park. It says visitors began coming “about 1905” (p. 47), but supplies neither of the precise June 1909 opening dates. That approximate chronology needs corroboration. Ross also acknowledges conflicting memories of ownership (p. 52); the recollections are used here for visitor experiences rather than to settle the opening date.

Memories recorded in Goldenseal

A day at Oak Park

Peggy Ross, “Echoes of Things Past: Preston County’s Oak Park” · Summer 1994, pp. 46–52

In interviews recorded by Peggy Ross, former visitors remembered dressing up for outings, arriving on long excursion trains, watching baseball teams from nearby towns and mines, and enjoying picnics, dancing, and boating. Charlie Hawkins of Masontown recalled repeatedly riding the polished wooden slide, described in the article as about 65 feet long. Alva Bishoff shared his family’s connection: his father, Ira, became park manager in 1910, while his mother, Elsie, managed the hotel and restaurant. These recollections offer a personal view of the park’s working life and pleasures, recorded many decades afterward.

From the James Brown collection

Oak Park photographs

James Brown collection · Undated photographs

Five undated views show the entrance sign, large slide, concession stand, Twin Rocks, and swimming area. None is identified as a photograph of opening day.